It is used in the sense of “each other” for these verbs. This is because the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object. The participe passé does not agree with the subject of the following verbs: se téléphoner to phone each other, se parler to talk to each other, se mentir to lie to each other, se plaire (complaire/déplaire) to like each other, se sourire to smile at each other, se rire to laugh at each other, se nuire to hurt each other, se succéder to succeed each other, se suffire to be enough, se ressembler to look like each other, s’en vouloir to be annoyed with each other. → se = indirect object ( téléphoné à qui? – who did they call?) Marie and Laurent had called each other on the phone. Remember: the participe passé never agrees with an indirect object.Įxample: Marie et Laurent s’étaient téléphoné. The exception to this concerns direct objects: the participle does not agree if the reflexive verb is followed by a direct object. In the case of reflexive verbs (which always take être as their auxiliary in the plus-que-parfait), the participle generally agrees with the subject.Įxample: Nous nous étions lev és très tôt.Son père avait acheté des places ce concert. She had bought a flute.Įlle avait rencontré d’autres artistes. She had bought a drum.Įlle avait acheté une flûte.
This direct object can take three possible forms: a personal pronoun (me, te, la, nous, vous, les), the relative pronoun que, or a noun placed before the verb (usually in questions and exclamations).Įxample: Elle avait acheté un tambour.
We use avoir when descendre, (r)entrer, (re)monter, retourner and sortir are followed by a direct object. I had gone to Brittany on holiday.Ĭheck out our page on avoir/être to pick up some tips on remembering which verbs take être as their auxiliary in the compound tenses. with the following verbs of movement and their derivative forms: naître/mourir to be born/to die, aller/venir to go/to come, monter/descendre to go up/to go down, arriver/partir to arrive/to leave, entrer/sortir to enter/to go out, apparaître to appear, rester to stay, retourner to return, tomber to fall and their related forms such as: revenir to come back, rentrer to go back in, remonter to go back up, redescendre to go back down, repartir to leave again.Įxample: J’ étais parti(e) en vacances en Bretagne.for reflexive verbs Example: Je m’étais trompé(e) dans mon calcul.Most verbs construct the plus-que-parfait using avoir, however être is used as the auxiliary verb in the following cases: Example: Je ne m’étais pas trompé dans mon calcul. I had left.→ I had not left.įor reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun comes after the first part of the negation (ne) and before the auxiliary verb (avoir/être). In negative sentences, the past participle comes after the second part of the negation (pas).